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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27884632">Jumping To Conclusions</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_c_m/pseuds/h_c_m'>h_c_m</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Death's Assistant and Santa's Head Elf [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Santa Clause (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Bernard might be out of character, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Nonbinary Character, Other, Romantic Fluff, i hope you enjoy anyway</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:40:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27884632</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_c_m/pseuds/h_c_m</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bernard and his partner share a few domestic moments. Bones, his partner, just happens to be Death's assistant/second in command. Bernard starts to feel undeserving of his loving spouse and voices his thoughts. Bones offers reassurance that they love him and a gift to prove it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bernard the Arch Elf/Bones(OC), Bernard the Arch Elf/OC, Bernard the Arch Elf/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Death's Assistant and Santa's Head Elf [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Jumping To Conclusions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first fanfiction about Bernard, so I'm sorry if he's out of character. I plan to make this part of a series. This particular story takes place somewhere in the middle of the series. Bernard in this story looks like he did in The Santa Clause 2. I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bernard’s eyes slowly fluttered open as he woke from his peaceful sleep. He felt a warm something under his arm, and, instinctively, he pulled it closer. His face took on an expression of confusion as it pressed against his skin. Instead of being met with the warm, soft skin of his partner, he was met with the cool fabric of a pillow. He pushed the pillow away and lifted his head, trying to see if his partner was anywhere in the room.<br/>
His eyes drifted sleepily across the room, searching for his partner. He couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He kicked off the sheets and turned so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He pulled the beaded cord on his small but ornate lamp and squinted at the bright light it emitted. He stretched as his eyes adjusted. He looked around once more, but again he couldn’t see his partner.</p><p>     He stood up and straightened his emerald green, silk pajamas. He didn’t think to straighten his bed before looking for the proclaimed love of his life. He quickly left his room and walked down the hallway to the dark oak stairs. He carefully made his way down, holding on to the ice-cold rail. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint why, but he was growing more concerned that he couldn't find them with every passing second.</p><p>     He went through his living room expecting to find them, but, again, he didn’t see them anywhere. He went through the door of the kitchen, expecting to find nothing. Instead of finding nothing, he found his partner standing by the stove and staring at him with a confused expression. They were holding a spatula in one hand and the handle of a pan in the other.</p><p>     “You’re up and alert early,” they said. They turned to flip over whatever they had in the pan.</p><p>     “I thought you left,” Bernard mumbled, slightly embarrassed at how he jumped to conclusions so quickly.</p><p>     “Why would I leave, Honey Bee?” He walked over next to them and wrapped his arms around them. They leaned down slightly and kissed him without taking their eyes off of the pan in front of them.</p><p>     “I don’t know. What are you doing up so early, anyway?” He let his arms fall from around their body and pushed a few stray curls back out of his eyes.</p><p>     “Well,” they sighed, “I was going to make you breakfast in bed.” A small smile played on their lips as they turned to the table and slid some golden brown eggs out of the pan and into an ornate plate.</p><p>     “Oh, I’m sorry-” Bernard began to apologize, but they quickly cut him off.</p><p>     “Do not apologize,” They punctuated every word with a point of the metal spatula, which glinted in the kitchen’s lights. “You just need to calm down, Honey. I’m not going to leave you.” They put the hand with the spatula on their hip and gestured with the other as they spoke.</p><p>     “I love you, Bones,” he smiled.</p><p>     “I love you, too. Now, get back in bed. I want to bring you breakfast.” Bernard smiled and lightly shook his head. Bones watched his dark curls bounce with each movement. He turned out of the kitchen and made his way back to his bed, slightly happy that he didn’t decide to make it before rushing out of his room. </p><p>     He was still upset at himself for thinking that they would leave him so easily. He was especially upset at the fact that every time he told them that he was scared they’d leave him, they just told him that they never would. It seemed like they would never get upset, but Bernard always felt like they were. He climbed into the bed and tucked himself in. He rubbed his hand across the soft sheets repeatedly as he got lost in his line of thought.</p><p>     Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, he heard the gentle clatter of silverware outside his door. He looked up to see Bones making their way over to his bed with a large tray covered in numerous plates that held many different foods. They smiled at him as they sat the tray down on his lap. They gently sat down beside him, careful not to jar the tray. They wrapped one arm around them and placed a loving kiss on his temple.</p><p>     Bones scooted the tray more onto their lap so that it would be evenly balanced. They picked up a piece of toast and promptly slathered it in apple butter. They looked over at who they often called “their favourite person” and took a bite of their toast. Instead of seeing a smile like they expected, Bones was met with a blank, almost sad expression.</p><p>     “Is something wrong?” They lowered their toast back down to the plate and picked up their glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.</p><p>     “Hm? No this is a great breakfast.” He smiled, but even Bones could tell that other feelings were being hidden behind it.</p><p>     “Bernard, something’s wrong. You hardly ever look sad. Stressed and angry, yes, but never sad.”</p><p>     He looked down. He wasn’t used to hearing his first name fall from Bones’ lips. Especially in that tone. The last time he had heard them use his full name in that tone was at their wedding when they were saying their vows. He looked back at them, hoping that they were looking away, but he was met with one of their trademark piercing stares. Bright violet eyes seemed to burn into his.</p><p>     “It’s just… Don’t you want to be with someone, I don’t know, better than me? More deserving?” He sipped his orange juice and avoided his partners eyes. “I mean, I’m just the Head Elf. You’re Death’s Assistant.”</p><p>     “Honey, I love you-”</p><p>     “Yeah, I know. You always say that. I just feel like a burden. You have to keep reminding me that you won’t leave,” he mumbled the last sentence. Hate dripped from his words. Not hate for Bones, he loved them. It was hate toward himself.</p><p>     Bones took the tray from their husband and put it to the side. They grabbed Bernard in a tight hug, which he weakly returned.</p><p>     "Bernard, you listen to me,” they began,” I love you. I always have, and I always will. You mean the world to me,” They could see tears threatening to fall from his cocoa brown eyes. “I never want to replace you with anyone, okay. You aren’t just a Head Elf. You are The Head Elf! You practically made this place! I’d have to be crazy to not want you as my husband.” He was fully crying now. Bones could feel his body shake with silent sobs. They buried their face in the crook of his neck and held him as he cried. Occasionally, they would gently kiss him just to let him know that they meant everything that they had said.</p><p>     After a few minutes, they went back to eating together. The food was cold, but they didn’t care. Bernard’s eyes were red and puffy, and tears were still falling from them. Bones reached over to the table and pulled out a silk handkerchief embroidered with a skull in one corner and a snowglobe in the other. They took his head in one hand and gently turned it towards them. They took the handkerchief and gingerly wiped away the tears from his sore eyes. He leaned into the touch of their hand and hummed slightly. His breaths were still somewhat cut short by involuntary sobs.</p><p>     After they had finished their food and shared some tender kisses, they lay back on the bed and held each other close. Bernard eventually fell back asleep. Bones lay there beside him and cuddled his sleeping body. They raised their left hand and motioned towards the lamp on Bernard’s beside table. The lamp flickered slightly before shutting off. They lay like that for a few hours.</p><p>     Later when Bernard woke up for the second time that day, Bones bestowed on him some interesting information. They had told him that they had a gift specially made for him. He was intrigued and asked what it was. Bones refused to tell him and insisted that he wait until he got to open the box it was stored in. Bernard was slightly confused until Bones pulled out a small box, which was about the size of Santa’s Handbook. It was covered in a black wrapping paper with glittering, silver Christmas trees. The bow tied around it was a smoky grey, which Bones thought brought the whole present together nicely.</p><p>     “Here,” they said, “Go ahead and open it.”</p><p>     Bernard carefully and studiously unwrapped the parcel. His expression changed from excitement to confusion as he opened the lid and pulled out what was inside. He lifted out what looked to be a mirror. He looked up at Bones and gently lifted the mirror.</p><p>     Bones held up their hands and began to gesture wildly as they explained,” I know you kind of feel like I’m always leaving you, but I never thought enough to actually think about how me always being away affected you. Death actually had to point it out to me,” you let out a small half-hearted laugh. “He showed me this special glass that lets you see whoever you want to see and talk to them if you want. I asked him if I could have some, and he said that I could. So, I made this for you. Now you don’t have to worry about not talking to me for days on end. You can just say my name into the mirror and you can talk to me.” They smiled as they finished their explanation.</p><p>     “Why didn’t you talk to me through it before now?” he asked.</p><p>     Bones’ face fell for a moment before they started another explanation. “Oh, yeah. You can only talk to someone if they also have a piece of this kind of glass. I have some right here actually.”</p><p>     Bones flicked their hand in front of them and a small puff of black smoke appeared in their palm. The smoke suddenly disappeared, and only a phone-shaped piece of glass remained. Both mirrors were decorated the same. They had smoky grey glass in the center with a border of purple-grey stone surrounding it. The stone was peppered with crystals of all shapes and colours and, of course, small fragments of bone.</p><p>     “Well, go on,” They urged, “All you have to do is say my name as loudly or as quietly as you want and it’ll do its thing.”</p><p>     Bernard looked at the glass and back at Bones. Looking back at the glass, he spoke, “Bones?”</p><p>     The smoky grey glass began to fog over. The fog swirled along its smooth surface for a few moments before fading away, revealing Bones’ smiling face. He looked over at them and saw that they were looking into their own mirror. They looked up at him and tapped the upper right corner of the mirror’s border. The image of Bones’ smiling face was replaced by a third-person shot of a very confused Head Elf.</p><p>     “Oh, and it also can flip which side the other person sees. You just have to tap here!” They again tapped the upper right corner of the border and the image changed again. This time it was facing over Bones’ left shoulder instead of focusing on their face.</p><p>     “So, you’ll always answer when I try to contact you on this?”</p><p>     “Of course I will! Why would I give it to you if I wouldn’t?”</p><p>     Bones walked over to Bernard. Their muscular arms wrapped around their small, petite husband and held him tight. They lifted him up off of the ground before sitting him back down. He thought he was going to be able to walk away, but Bones grabbed him by the waist and lifted him up, pulling him flush against their body. They pushed their lips against his firmly in a kiss that was full of love and passion. He wrapped his legs around Bones and pulled back.

</p><p>     They smiled at each other. Bones was proud to have someone that she deemed the “most amazing person they had ever known” as their husband. Bernard was also proud. This was partially due to the fact that he had managed to marry Death’s second in command, and mostly due to the fact that he had managed to marry someone who actually loved him. He had married someone who adored him for who he was and recognized him as a person. He didn’t have to worry about his loving partner leaving him because they couldn’t live without him the same as he couldn’t live without them.</p>
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